writing and words...

Well, we recorded in the studio last night again...a good ole' 6-midnight session! We're working on a new song I wrote called, "I'll say it again". It's about saying things over and over again and getting sick of saying the same things to God ad nausea like: I love you, I need you, Help me, Forgive me (that's a huge one for me), etc. But as the title of the songs states, we've got to say these things again, cause these are the words that we need to utter and God longs to hear. The chorus says, "But I'll say it again, Jesus I need You. I've come to the end, of living without You. I've said it before, but I'll say it once more, I'm Yours." It's simple, but it's what I was feeling a little while back and God gave me a sweet melody line to put with the lyrics. We've been in the studio for two days on that song and we're still not done...it's somewhat extensive. I can't wait for people to hear it.

I love writing. I love writing songs, blogs and letters. I love writing emails, sermons and journal entries. I love reading good writings of authors who obviously love writing themselves. I love hanging out with people who love writing and writings. There is a kindred spirit I feel with that select demographic of society. I learned a couple new words today I'm trying to commit to memory. One is quixotic...it means romantic or idealistic. I like that one alot. Another one is prepossessed...it means something along the lines of obsessed or hold hostage to something. That captured me as well. One that I commited to memory last week was chimera. That means A fanciful mental illusion or fabrication...I have those alot...so I needed to know how to describe them.

I don't know why I enjoy words so...I find myself mulling over them and finding enjoyment in playing with them. I'm not very intellectual, my mental faculties aren't those of a luminary, so I've had to fight for all the vocabulary I've got...I read, I study, I ponder, I memorize, I listen hard and stay aware as often as I can to the language of those around me. I find communication to be of greatest importance...when it's done well, I know how moved I can be. It's one of the primary ways we influence people and affect change. I want to affect as much movement and change as I can in my lifetime...and words are crucial to that end.

It in no way diminishes the importance of living...words are only secondary to living the life, but if you want to transfer your life to another being, if you want to pass along your deepest longings and most cherished dreams, it's sad to not have the words to be that bridge people need to get to where you're trying to take them. It certainly isn't enough to keep saying, "I don't know how to describe what I'm feeling" or "I don't know how to explain what I'm thinking"...we can't settle for that...God gave us language to help us reproduce our affections and musings and wonderments. To not strive to improve our language is to accept defeat at the hands of ignorance. IGNORing is not an option...and I believe Christians should be some of the most ambitious humans as it relates to language and the arts because we believe they all find their source in the Creator God.

Anyway...I hope my daughters come to love language as much as I do. I was outside cutting down a tree today and Taylor, who recently turned four, yelled out, "Dad, I found a chrysalis!" There was something about hearing the word chrysalis come out of her mouth that just melted me. I asked her where she learned that word and she said, "Kami". So I asked Kami where she learned that word and she said, "Reading a book." Hmmm. I don't think I learned the word chrysalis until I was in college.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say...I guess I'm not trying to say anything really...just getting some thoughts out there...